Surgical dressings



April 19, 1960 A. B. KOZDAS 2,933,083

SURGICAL DRESSINGS Filed April 13, 1956 INVENTOR Anton B. Kozdas ATTORNEY 2,933,083 Patented Apr. 19, 1960 Sees Parse Ofice SURGICAL DRESSINGS Anton B. Kozdas, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application April 13, 1956, Serial No. 578,031

a 1 Claim. (Cl. 128-89) This invention relates in general to. new'and useful improvements'in medical supplies, and more particularly to improved medical dressings.

In many instances surgical dressings are applied only for the purpose of preventing foreign matter and germs from entering into the wound, abrasion, burn, etc. However, when the usual gauze is applied by means of adhesive tape or the like, the gauze serves to irritate the injured part of the body and greatly retards the healing period. It is therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide an improved surgical dressing which is in the form of an outer layer having an adhesive coating on the under surface thereof.

In order to treat minor fractures, sprains and the like, it has been necessary in the past to either use splints or plaster casts. These surgical dressings are not only difiicult to apply in many instances, but are undesirable particularly in cases where swelling is involved. Also, the placing of the plaster dressings is time consuming and the application of splints in many instances does not result in a perfect fit. It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an improved surgical dressing which is in the form of an adhesive sheet having a suitable reinforcement built therein, the reinforcement being formed of a material which is readily bendable to the size and shape whereby the surgical dressing when applied to a part of the body may perfectly fit that part of the body.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved surgical dressing for treating minor fractures, sprains, and the like, the surgical dressing including an outer adhesive layer which is reinforced by a suitable reinforcement strip and which has secured to the under side thereof a gauze pad, said strip being formed of bendable material which is substantially rigid after being bent so as to properly support the injured part.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a form of surgical dressing intended for treating minor fractures, sprains, etc., portions of the surgical dressing being broken away in order to illustrate the details thereof;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of Figure 1 and shows the specific details of the surgical dressing of Figure l, a bent position of the reinforcing being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a plan view of still another form of surgical dressing with portions thereof being broken away in order to illustrate the specific details thereof;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by section line 4-4 of Figure 3 and shows the specific details of the surgical dressing of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a further modified form of I surgical dressing with portions thereof being broken away;

and

Figure 6 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 6-6 of Figure 5 and shows the specific details of the surgical dressingof Figure 5, the position of the adhesive sheet thereof when applied to an injured part of the body being shown in dotted lines.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that there is illustrated a modified form of surgical dressing which is intended for use in conjunction with minor fractures, sprains, etc., the surgical dressing being referred to in general by the reference numeral 52-. The surgical dressing 52 includes an outer layer54 which has an adhesive coating on the under surface thereof. Secured to the" underside of the outer layer 54 by the adhesive coating is an elongated reinforcing strip 56. The reinforcing strip .56 is perforated as at 58 and is provided with an upwardly bowed center reinforcing rib 60 which extends longitudinally of the reinforcing strip 56. Underlying the reinforcing strip 56 and extending outwardly thereof is a gauze inner layer 62 which is also secured to the outer layer 54 by the adhesive coating thereof. It is to be noted that the outer layer 54 extends outwardly of the gauze layer 62 so that the adhesive coating thereof may be used in the application of the surgical dressing 52.

The reinforcing strip 56 is formed of a bendable, yet relatively rigid material and may be bent. to any desired shape for applying the surgical dressing 5 2 to an injured part of the body. If necessary, generally triangular sections 64 may be cut from the surgical dressing 52 along the dotted lines of Figure 7 to increase the flexibility of the surgical dressing and permit it to be bent as desired.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, it will be seen that there is illstrated still another form of surgical dressing which is referred to in general by reference numeral 66. The surgical dressing 66 includes an outer adhesive sheet or layer 68 having an adhesive coating on the underside thereof. Disposed in opposed relation to the outer layer 68 is an inner layer 70 which is also in the form of an adhesive sheet, but which has the adhesive coating on the other surface thereof in opposed relation to the adhesive coating of the outer layer 68. Extending longitudinally between the layers 68 and 70 are transversely spaced two reinforcing wires 72. The surgical dressing 66 is relatively rigid, but may be readily formed when being applied so as to provide a surgical dressing of the desired shape for minor fractures, sprains, etc.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6 in particular, it will be seen that there is illustrated a further modified form of surgical dressing intended for treating fractures and sprains, the surgical dressing being referred to in general by the reference numeral 74. The surgical dressing 74 includes an outer layer in the form of an adhesive sheet having an adhesive coating on the underside thereof. Secured to the central part of the outer layer 76 on the undersurface thereof by the adhesive coating is an elongated reinforcing strip which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 78. The reinforcing strip 78 is padded by means of a gauze inner layer 80 which extends beyond the reinforcing strip 78 and. is secured to the underside of the outer layer 76 by means of the adhesive coating thereof. It is to be noted that the outer layer 76 is of a width to project beyond the gauze pad 80 so that the adhesive coating of the outer layer 76 may be used in securing the surgical dressing 74 in place.

The reinforcing strip 78 is of the lattice type and includes longitudinal bars 82 which are connected together by longitudinally spaced, transversely extending straps 84. It is to be understood that the reinforcing: strip 78 may be readily severed to facilitate the application of the surgical dressing 74.

It is pointed out at this time that all of the sheets or layers having adhesive coatings may be in the form of existing types of adhesive tapes or plastic adhesive sheets. Further, the variousreinforcements including wire may be selectively formed of a desired metal, such as stainless steel, or may be formed of a suitable plastic.

Frornthe foregoing description of the various surgical dressings, which are the subject of this invention, it is believed that the application thereof will be readily apparent to Ones skilled in the art, and accordingly further descriptions of the uses of the various surgical dressings will not be set forth here.

The foregoing is considered asillustrative only of the principles of the invention. modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows: A surgical dressing and reinforcement comprising an elongated outer layer having a length substantially greater than its width and having an adhesive coating on the under Further, since numerous "aosaoea surface thereof, a reinforcement secured longitudinally of "said under-surface by said adhesive coating, and a flat inner dressing layer extending longitudinally of and underlying said reinforcement, said inner dressing layer being of a lesser width than said outer layer, a portion of said adhesive coating being exposed beyond said dressing layer for securing said surgical dressing in place, said reinforcement comprising a bendable, relatively rigid, thin, flat severable strip material extending the entire length of said dressing and including a longitudinally extending, narrow reinforcement rib obviating longitudinal bending and extending away from said dressing layer and terminating in bendable side flanges having side edges disposed inwardly of adjacentside-edges of said dressing layer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mulford June 24, 1902 Erdely Sept. 28, 1943 Ryberg July 3, 1945 Atherton Dec. 11, 1951 Barton 'Feb. 24, 1953 Stumpf Mar. 19, 1957 

